A/N: I want to thank everyone for taking the time to review and more importantly giving my fic a chance. I know it's probably beyond confusing, but I've got this ...picture... in my head and right now I've just made the sketchs, but if you give me a chance I swear a paint it in vivid technicolor for all of you! There's a few things I want to mention, or rehash like theChinesewords ornames--last chapter there were some names some of you were probably wondering about like Laoshi, Shui Zhen, um...Mei Jia Yun and ...I think that should be it. Laoshi is teacher. Shui, Water; Zhen, Precious -- Shui Zhen, Precious Water; Mei and Jia are both ways to say 'Beautiful' and Yun is clouds. Hence, the comment about about Mei Jia Yun being a 'Narcasistic Air-head'.
Please direct any comments or reviews to the review pageor my email at deathtrapXI AT comcast DOT net
Chapter Two - Collide
I, I went to hell--
I might as well …learn by my mistakes
I, at twenty-four, was insecure--
Do WHATEVER it takes…
Come on and…
Wake Up, Wake Up, Wake Up, Wake Up--
--Shut Up, Shut Up, Shut Up, Shut Up--
It's time …Smell the Coffee, the coffee…
Wake Up, Wake Up, Wake Up, Wake Up--
--Shut Up, Shut Up, Shut Up, Shut Up--
This time… Smell the Coffee, the coffee
The Cranberries - Wake Up And Smell the Coffee
London, England--Outside of an abandoned estate, overlooking a cliff; 4:18 a.m.
The rain fell with vicious, abandon coating the English shoreline with bitter, poignant tears; crashing into and eroding any, and all obstacles that stood in their path like merciless angels falling from heaven--it's intent was clear-- admittedly savage, but gruesomely beautiful.
Few, however, could hope to grasp the lackluster magnificence of the early morning spectacle like Urahara, Kisuke did, standing vigil under the harsh cloudburst, an aberrant semblance of contemplation casting shadows on his usual façade of carefree effervescence. He stood, momentarily staring up into sky; seemingly concentrating his focus afar, but in truth his battle was internal. He'd been silently at war with himself for the last couple of decades, though, so as tiring as it was to the blond man, it was nothing new.
Forestalling a strong wind, he drew his hand up to the top of his head, grasping his ill-placed hat to his head with a firm vice-like grasp, as if anticipating some divine intervention of the fashion kind. He grimaced at the stray thought that not even 'The Man Upstairs' liked his lucky hat.
"…Some people get no respect," he frowned, lightly.
His attempt at levity was light-hearted at best; his dark moods overshadowing any form (of humor) not of the cynical kind. Any other day, he'd lament it's lost, but now was a time for action, and he felt hard-pressed, not to heed the siren's call. His steps were steadfast, but his pace quickened as he entered the forest adjacent to the decrepit estate where he stayed.
The forest's haunted aire seemed almost palpable, lingering like a fruitless romance clinging to the heart of the estate, and it's surrounding atmosphere. He scanned the vicinity as he entered looking for the telltale markings to get him where he needed to be. Were he not so hesitant to accomplish his goal, or he not so selfish to delay it, he'd already be done, …but alas, his sojourn lasted far too long for comfort, and now it'd seemed he's debts must be paid with interest.
Ah, the life of a gambling man is fraught with peril and despair, he thought to himself as he cleared the first marking.
When he reached what seemed to be the center of the depressing forest, the rain still coating him in bitter tears, he stood before four, aged statues--one large and three small--in a scattered circle picketed with trees. He walked in to the circle, and sucked a shuttering gasp--silently thanking the heavens for crying the tears he could not. He stepped to the crumbling effigies--at one time, he'd called them …friends…--and quietly pleaded their forgiveness for the acts he'd soon commit.
Raising his hands to the cheek of the large statue in front of him took more effort than one would expect. His thumb caressed its marble skin; amazed it didn't crack at his touch. He traced the features--memorizing every contour--with the delicate pad of his thumb. Over the lips, across the brow, rounding the ears with an artist's finesse--he wondered if it would be worth the work, if he ended up breaking.
"I'm sorry …old friend; I need your strength--one last time…" he whispered silently into the night. His head hung low, and he prayed for conviction.
As a dramatic bolt of lightning struck through the roaring storm, he lifted his head and screamed clear into the night. His voice brimming with a strength not fully his own, and it resonated with the surrounding blast.
"ARISE!"
Somewhere Along the Pacific Ocean, near Tokyo 11:25:34 a.m.
From a bird's eye view, he manipulated his young, svelte body like a marionette dancing in the sky, spinning in quick and nimble rotations alike into a figure eight. Precariously balancing--upside down--on the underside of the crow's nest, he vaulted downwards towards his opponent, standing ready on the floor. His eyes locked hers, plotting the trajectory of his descent while a lock of his flaxen hair dangled before his light, cerulean eyes.
When he saw his opponent brace herself, however, his plans were irrevocably changed; he could no longer expect one strike to complete this match, nor could he expect to come to a halt so suddenly--but then he'd realized from the start it'd be tactics, not skill, that would determine the outcome of this fight.
Like a drop of flame, he raced towards the flaxen-manned beauty hoping to kiss her oily-skin with the broadside of his fist… Only to be swatted away when he reached her. Yet, he preserved, keeping his wits as he landed softly on the solid wood railing of the boat.
"At least you're taking me seriously this time," she murmured solemnly. Her eyes were unnaturally sharp, taking notice to everything that happened around her. She'd never felt as connected as she did at that very moment--looking into herself in hopes to find the strength she'd need to carry on.
"I realize, though, how completely outclassed I am …chagrin as I am to admit it," She continued, beginning run towards her smaller, white-haired opponent. "--So I'll make this quick! I've got--"
…But, before she could finish, she was shook violently to the ground by the boat's sudden jarring. She blinked in a haze of confusion, trying to gather her wits, slowly sitting back on her bottom, putting her hands behind her to steady herself.
"…Hunngh?"
"--Rangiku!" Hitsugaya cried, launching toward his fallen friend. He didn't have time to contemplate his sudden burst of emotion as large waves began buffeted the ship from every angle. Sliding to her side, he quickly scanned her body as he tried--in vein--to assess the situation.
"W-what the hell is going on? N-no storm c-could …sneak up on us this suddenly," the blonde asked, wide-eyed. The expression on her face would have been comical in any other situation. The confusion was written plain as day across her features, as a cute frown marred her face in thought.
"It's no storm…Look!" he replied, placing a firm hand on her shoulder to steady them both. "The clouds…it's still clear out. The only things happening that's storm like are these obnoxiously large waves and the dry lightning. I've got no idea what's happening."
"--Aye! Thurr's un unknown mass portside, and 'It's' rising!" Large crewmen bellowed, his body was riddled with muscles and scars--he reminded Mei of the action figure her dog chewed up when she was a child. "Aye, dun't know what it is, but it's humongous; makes the ship look like fishing bait…" He finished.
A pretty-boy stood on deck, his shirt open and his wine-colored hair almost hidden behind his large checkered plum and white bandana, watching the proceedings with trembling fuchsia eyes. "My Gawd! W-what in the fuck's goin--" He fell to his knees as a large wave catapulted in to the ship, ironically enough, setting him in prayer position. His fingernails scrapped into the hardwood floor, as his voice cut through everyone near, visibly agitated.
"R-r-right here! I-I-it's coming right at us…" he said, softly to himself, but the crew head him as if he'd yelled. In the silence that followed people would have sworn they could hear a pin drop. "That shit's gonna crash right into us, and there's nothing we can do!"
Chaos suddenly exploded on the large vessel. Its workers scrambled like ants about to be squashed trying to get to their stations, the pilot was trying his best to strong-arm the large fishing boat into an abrupt, Nascar-like turn, and the erstwhile sparring partners attentively watched the proceedings, unsure of what exactly they were expected to do.
"Everybody prepare for CONTACT!"
The pale haired boy's eyes narrowed as he spotted the large mass for the first time. Enormous was the first word that came to mind after spotting it--frightening was the second; the large dome-shaped mass was covered in foliage painting the dark morning sky shades of green, and almost three-times the size of the large fishing boat they rode.
The most frightening thing, however, was the fact the large island seemed to moan as it moved--in a deep baritone wail that pleaded, echoed, and resonated through the bones of everyone present--it cried, a hallow wail. It was easy to translate for who happened to listened:
…Didn't you see me…?
It moaned.
…Didn't you hear me?
It'd cry…
Didn't you see me standing there!
It was almost a haunting melody that could lull the crowd into a false sense of security, but few who sailed the seas as long as they have were moved by its siren song--but the sheer fright of it all rendered them immobile--and one thought ran havoc through everyone's mind and they watched the mass move towards them--
We're going to crash…
If I keep rolling around like this--I'll wind up face-first, right on the floor; Hinamori Momo mused; restlessly, shifting her legs repeatedly under the oppressive weight of the silken sheets decorating her western style four-poster bed. She had no idea what it was keeping her up into the early hours of the day, but she solemnly swore to make whatever it was suffer grievously when she figured it out. She had preparatory classes for her admissions test at Tokyo University tomorrow; she couldn't afford losing the scant hours of sleep she'd managed to accumulate.
So much for making a good first impression, she frowned. She was hoping to set a good impression on her professors tomorrow--she was a good student, probably good enough to enter college now instead of taking a year to prepare, but she was a constant daydreamer and the faculty tended to pick on her for that. She vowed to start off on the right foot this year.
She decided, when she looked at the clock that any sleep she'd hot to get as of now would most likely only make things worse. If she went to sleep now, she'd just be too tempted to sleep in; so she decided she'd get a glass of warm soy milk, and finish the book she'd started the other day. Curling up in the little niche on her windowsill, she facing the new day with her book in hand--The Heroic Tales of Momoko, A Romance in Fugue--and a slight smile on her sleepy-deprived face.
Sometimes it'd seem there were only two things in the world that could make a dent in her lethargic, early morning haze and live to tell the tale--Her father (…though to tell the truth, her father's barely made it a few times…) and anything written by Kyouraku Shunsui, he was a Literary God in her book; his 'Romantic-Adventures' series was the best thing to hit shelves since …well, ever. His literary style was poignant and poetic, but not so flowery a common person couldn't understand. He was gifted, and open minded and it really showed in his work as he spanned genres, and played-off of stigmas, creating idyllic worlds were 'love' was loved, and anything was possible.
…That, and the fact, that each new addition was introduced with a beautiful to his 'lovely, and most-talented editor--Nanao' had to be the most adorable and romantic thing ever.
--To say Hinamori was addicted was an understatement.
…Pacific Ocean..? - 12:13 P.M.
The sky was falling and he was the only one who could see it …or at least that was how Toushirou felt as the water submerged him, pushing him down until the pressure became excruciating, to the point Hitsugaya wondered if it were possible for him to fold like origami under the battering he took. It was like slow motion; his hands reached out towards a light he could barely see, grasping torrents of water as if they were a life-line, or more aptly, a stairway cause he was sure he'd die any second now.
If I could just…
His eyes felt heavy, and he barely had the strength to fight the crushing depths of the ocean's waves. He felt a flood of distain wash over him at irony of drowning …of all the ways to go down; if he didn't the his eyes would explode under the pressure, he would have rolled them. Water was a life force, it made up ninety-eight percent of the human body; what kind of sadistic comedy would make something we're almost completely made of lethal?
Suddenly the saying, 'God loves laughter…' makes a whole lotta sense. --I wish it didn't…
Bleruuup-ett
He watched what would likely be his last air-bubble robbed from his body, and float towards the sun, wondering if it was truly meant to end this way. There was a traitor beneath his breast, crying out how he deserved better than this, how he deserved a chance; it was right to bring him this close to home …only to have him die like this--like, like a dog. That'd be too cruel.
To be that close and not--
He couldn't even finish the thought.
I-I want to live…
I want, I want to fight …with Ran-- Mei Jia Yun
I NEED, no, I w--
I WILL see Hinamori again.
I need to live.
…if, if you're listening… let me, please…
I want to live!
From the depths, He heard his plea, and answered in turn.
So shall it be…
A/N: Feh. I'm sort of happy with this chapter, but I'm sure it could be better. Just so you know, yes, I am aware of the, at times, blatant OOCness, and I apologise, but like I said ealier there is a method to my madness. On that note, Rangiku... I wasn't planing on her being in the story at all, but it was like this chapter wrote itself. I'm aware she's very OOC, but I'll fix it.
Anyways, thanx for reading, hopefully I'll see you next chapter!